What I always find funny is that the herione’s mother, is sometimes, only around 40, mostly widowed, and already considered too old and dried-up for a romance of her own. I wish more authors would write “second chance” at love books.

Interesting that you don’t include the 18-21 age range. When I first started reading Regency romances back in the day, practically all the heroines were in that age range, even if the hero was considerably older, such as in Heyer’s These Old Shades. Even with today’s steamier historical romances, I still see a fair number with a young heroine; after all, women were expected to be married well before they turned 21. Since I’m considerably older than that, now, I do prefer them to be a little older and more sure of themselves.

Actually, Janie, there is an 18-21. The poll apparently sorts them according to which is most popular, so it falls 3rd in popularity, which is where it ended up listed. But I agree–it’s more appealing to me to have them a bit older.

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March Contest

New York Times bestselling author Sabrina Jeffries is celebrating true romance this month with a new release—THE SECRET OF FLIRTING (Sinful Suitors #5, On sale March 27)—and a fantastic prize package for one lucky winner. In addition to a pretty box full of lavender soap, a heart purse, aromatherapy pillows, deck of cards, “I love You” paper weight and two prints, the winner will also take home an autographed copy of THE STUDY OF SEDUCTION, the second book in Sabrina’s Sinful Suitors series.

Regency Tidbit

The hanging of greenery was the most common Christmas custom practiced by folks in the Regency. Dating back before our era was the custom of hanging a “kissing bough.” It could include not just mistletoe, but holly, ivy, rosemary, bay leaves, and laurel leaves. It was essentially a big ball of greens. And every time a gentleman kissed a lady (or a maid or a dowager or any female), he had to remove one of the mistletoe berries. Once the berries were gone, no more kissing was allowed. What great fun! If you’d like to see some actual kissing boughs, as well as prints of the kissing going on beneath them, be sure to check out my Pinterest page for What Happens Under the Mistletoe.

One thing that comes from England is fruit cake (our version of plum pudding), and there’s both goose and turkey in Scrooge’s story. Also, the Yule log and the hanging of holly, ivy, and mistletoe are English. You can thank those ancient Celtic druids for mistletoe—they loved it in their winter celebrations. No one is entirely sure whether the Yule Log originated in Anglo-Saxon times or much later, in the 17th century (the first English reference to it is dated from then), when someone brought the custom over from Europe. But it tended to be a regional phenomenon in our period. Those in North England called it the Yule Clog, and it was generally started from a piece of the previous year’s log that was kept all year to bring good luck and protection from evil to the household.